Diversity, learning styles, and culture are all issues that educators face when teaching. The hard part is planning a lesson that addresses learners from all different backgrounds like cultures, socioeconomic status, and religions. All students learn in different ways, even if they have the same culture or religion, therefore there is no definite way to plan. This is a challenging task, and this article brings up some interesting questions for teachers to think about when creating a lesson. These four questions include Cognition: How do I know? Conceptualization: How do I think? Affect: How do I decide? And Behavior: How do I act? These four questions allow for an explanation of the differences in which people think, feel, behave etc. As a teacher, it is important to keep in mind your own cultural biases, so make sure you are not projecting them onto your own students. A way to really help you understand your own culture, is to really discover different ways to teach to all different kinds of cultures. An Atlantic article covers a lot of information about a study conducted at the University of Arizona that has a lot of statistics on cultural differences. Some resources that may help new teachers confronting different aspects of culture within their own classroom(such as race, ses, gender, religion, etc.) can be found through the website teaching tolerance This website is a great resource because it focuses a lot on personal reflection/personal development, but also includes lesson ideas and resources for students regarding reflection and understanding of topics such as culture and all it entails.
Nicholas
This article makes an important point; when do you draw the line between pragmatic standardization and idealistic variation in teaching style? Lamentably, while the author acknowledges this difficulty it is never adequately addressed. The author vastly prefers to proselytize over the important part that culture plays in shaping the learning habits and abilities of students. However, despite the author’s assurance that culture is an essential component of the academic ability of every student, "Researchers have clearly established that there is no single or dual learning style for the members of any cultural, national, racial, or religious group" (Dunn, 1997, pp. 74- 75). The end result is that cultural considerations are rather useless from an instructor’s point of view, as they provide little to no insight into the best educational approach to utilize when teaching students of a particular cultural background. Essentially, educators are right back where they began, trapped between the assertions of theoreticians that varying instructional strategies will produce better educated students, and the practical impossibility of tailoring curriculum to the needs of 85+ students, whom they only see for one hour increments twice a week. In spite of the author’s fixation on culture, the message seems to be that teachers need to adjust their curriculum to the learning needs of their students, by incorporating a variety of educational practices into various lessons and using what works best as often as possible. The confusing part is that this practice does not necessitate a culturally specific approach. While culture plays a part in informing the values and abilities of various people, culture is not a monolith, and thus the people produced by certain cultures do differ, thus it would be more effective to teach each group of students with the strategies that best interest and educate them, rather than attempting to make accommodations for culture that may not work for the group of students that the teacher is trying to instruct.
Miranda
There is an ever-impeding problem of trying to balance diversity and uniformity all at once in the classroom. For years and years teachers everywhere state how they are changing education and students are getting better and better, yet the mold for education has changed in over 50 years. If people have changed in the past 50 years, how come the education of teaching these people has not? Diversity if the big part of this, we are trying to fit every class and every kid into mold. Instead we should see what the kid thrives at best and teach them to that style. “Students who do not learn through whatever the current "best approach" happens to be are too often labeled "disabled" because their way of learning does not respond to that particular method”. (John Hopkins, Diversity) This is also happening with behaviors where kids may have “ADD” which is only because they are not allowed to use their hands which is their learning style in the classroom. Some of these sort of things can all be avoided with just learning what each child’s learning style is and teaching to that to help them achieve.
There are 4 different examples of learning styles as described in the john Hopkins article being, Cognition: How Do I Know? Conceptualization: How Do I Think? Affect: How Do I Decide? And Behavior: How Do I Act? These 4 categories explain the differences in ways that people can perceive, think, feel and behave. This along with multiple intelligences can ultimately create a classroom that can reach each student because you will be able to understand them. The most successful teachers are the ones that can bring in vary contexts, and cultures into a classroom to get students looking and working from all angles, with this they will become the student you never thought they could be.
Sarah
Finding a balance between diversity and uniformity is something that a lot of currents teachers are struggling with. Whether it be for the new teachers or for the more experienced ones, finding that balance to create a room of collaboration is very complex. There are four main questions to consider while trying to find a way to balance different kinds of learning styles. These questions are how do I know, how do I think, how do I decide and how do I act? These questions each represent a different focus as to how different people handle different learning situations.With finding how to know something, the students are using cognition to break down something when they look at it. This is important overall in the classroom because students need to be able to explain why they know something. This can be different for each student depending on how they actually view the thing when they are learning about it. The process of viewing the thing is explained in how do I think, which is the question of conceptualization.Conceptualization is when a student will be presented with a situation and will have to decide how they think about it, whether it be breaking something down or even just forming an opinion. It is common that sometimes we cannot understand how someone came to the conclusion that they had and it follows in them viewing something in a different light than we possible were.How I decide can be summed up into affect. This is a moment in which students have a difference in intrinsic and extrinsic rewards as to whatever they are doing. Through the response to the work is decided in this moment, whether the student will be motivated or not.The last question being how do I act has to deal with the behavior of the student. Depending on how the student processes something, how they feel about something, if they even understand something at all will determine how they act in a situation such as being asked a specific question.These four questions, along with the idea of teaching culture stood out most because these are the questions that must be asked in the classroom to really determine how it will be run, how the students will react and how the environment will be viewed. Guild writes, "An appropriate balance must be determined thoughtfully with attention to beliefs, theories, and research rather than efficiency. We need to decide intentionally what should be uniform for all students and what should be diverse and strive toward putting into practice what we say we believe." By paying attention to each of the students needs, teachers are being held more accountable for their attentiveness in the classroom.
Mike
A common problem in today's education system is that educators continue to treat all learners alike and not takin in account for their family background, socioeconomic status and what the learners culture is. Schools are having trouble finding a balance between uniformity and diversity. What should be the same for each student and what should be diverse. It is important to look at the outcomes you want for the students, what experiences should every student have and which parts of the curriculum should be uniform. One last question brings everything together: "How can educators work towards a common mission while honoring diversity"(Guild 1). These questions are what should be going through ever educators head, we need to identify the differences in ever learner and use those differences to help that student succeed in the class and post schooling. "The emphasis on uniformity is a serious disadvantage for students whose culture has taught them behaviors and beliefs that are different from the norms of the majority culture most often emphasized in schools"(Guild 1). As a future teacher it is my job to look at the need for diversity in the classroom and don't shelter it off. We need to adjust our learning styles and structure to fit the needs of everyone's not just the norms of society. In order to pick the right learning styles, you need to look at cognition, conceptualization, affect and behavior. This will help us as educators really helps us understand culture and learning styles differences. In order to help students achieve inside and outside the classroom, we need to step up, find the best ways for students to learn, incorporate their cultures into the lessons and research how certain techniques or behaviors affects them. Tis will really help build a safe and structured environment where all students will be able to achieve success.
Kate
One of major problems facing educators today, is the line between uniformity and diversity when instructing students. Something educators struggle with is not pushing students into the same mold, which has been a problem in the school system for decades. For many teachers, uniformity comes easier than diversity, but this does a disservice to almost all students, as uniformity doesn’t take into account the different beliefs, learning and thinking styles, or adversities that students might face. This can be shown in how many students who don’t learn and respond to the so called “best approach” of teachers, are often labeled as “disabled” when the reality is most them have different learning styles. However, we shouldn’t completely ignore uniformity, “We need appropriate uniform standards but not standardization.” (Guild, John Hopkins University). The main goal of us, as future educators, is to make sure that all learning styles are supported in our classroom, but that all students reach the same end goal.
There are four questions to consider when teaching different learning styles according to this article are, how do I know? (which is associated with cognition), how do I think? (which is associated with conceptualization), how do I decide (which is associated with affect) and how do I act (which is associated with behavior). We must consider these questions because “people differ in the ways they perceive, think, feel, and behave.” (Guild, John Hopkins University). It’s important to learn about your student’s culture and their learning styles, and incorporate them into each of your lessons, so that each student can be successful in every aspect of the classroom.
Elizabeth
In the article "Diversity, Learning Style, and Culture," Pat Burke Guild explores all the different components that make up the unique lens through which each student in a classroom views their world.
This article provided a lot of information about different learning styles, cultural influences, and personal factors that influence how students perform academically. However, it doesn’t seem to offer many realistic solutions to this problem. I fully understand the value of really getting to know each of your students, but I’m just not sure that that’s practical. Say I teach four classes with 25 students each. Of those 100 students, let’s say 15 have an IEP. As their teacher, I must come to school with an engaging lesson plan that meets all the required standards plan that incorporates some aspect of each student’s learning style. Everyday, I have to make sure I’m providing accommodations for the students that need them, including students who aren’t identified as needing extra help. Teachers aren’t unaware that their students have diverse perspectives and needs—they’re simply doing the best they can with what they have, which often means resorting to methods that reach most of their students, not all of them. I think this article would have been a lot more useful if it had provided strategies for how teachers can meet the needs of diverse learners.
I started thinking about solutions. What if each student had a profile where they evaluated themselves? They would take personality and learning style tests, and answer questions like, “Do you like listening to lectures and taking notes?” or “Would you rather have the science behind a chemical reaction explained before or after you do an experiment about it?”. Their results would be changeable and they could take the tests multiple times throughout their high school career. Teachers would also be able to write comments about the student (e.g., “He gets nervous when speaking in front of the whole class, but does very well in small groups.”) There would also be a section where the teacher could see where her students overlap (e.g., “Your freshman English class has five naturalist learners.”). The teacher could use this information to create lessons that will engage her students before she even met them.
Riley
The big main point to this article talked about the idea that all students are different, and a big challenge that schools face is the balance between diversity and uniformity. Something that is agreed upon that should be uniform is the overall goals for students, but what needs to be diverse is how you accomplish those goals. For example, a goal for all students is for them to be able to read and to be able to read at a high level. On the other hand, because all students are different, they are going to learn to read at a high level at different paces and in different ways. As educators, it's our job to get to know our students so that we can help them learn in ways that are best for them.
Anther point that Guild brought up in this article that I've never really thought about is that teachers are often times treated unfairly just as students are. Guild brought up the point that obviously teachers don't all teach in the same ways, which means they shouldn't be evaluated in the same ways. Nobody knows what the perfect way of teaching is, there's no magic formula, which means teachers need to be judged by the impact they have on their students and nothing else. An example brought up in the article is that certainly all teachers should be expected to plan for their lessons, but if they have different styles, they shouldn't be expected to plan in the same way.
In summary, all teachers and learners are different, we all have different styles and different approaches to how we work, and as long as we're all working towards the same goals, that's okay!
Marissa
Despite much discussion in teacher preparatory programs about diversity of students both culturally and in terms of learning styles, little has been done in schools to truly accommodate for those differences. This article points out that schools have been largely established and administrated by white men and thus schools tend to operate in ways that work well for students with similar cultures and learning styles and not so well for others. You probably wouldn't notice the problem if your learning style is well suited to ‘reflective, linear, or analytic’ thinking, but it leaves out a large portion of students who learn better through activity, discussion, and cooperation. I think one of the biggest problems we face is that so many teachers are people who were successful in this type of school environment and continue to follow that model in their own classrooms. Just by nature, other learning styles tend to underachieve and be unhappy in school making it incredibly unlikely that they would then go on to become a teacher.
The burden falls on us to go outside of our comfort zone and learn how to be better teachers for all learning styles. Once we understand these learning styles we must then incorporate instruction that accommodates those styles and cultures in our classroom on a day to day basis. Adding variety to the way we deliver instruction will not only help those who struggle with traditional school practices but it will also help students become more well rounded learners. While I think it’s true that we all learn best in different scenarios, I think it’s also true that we can all become better at learning in new ways. If every student was exposed to truly diverse educational experiences on a regular basis they would quickly become more adept at learning in ways that they may have struggled with previously. Giving students opportunities to be successful makes them more willing to try new things and struggling doesn’t seem as bad anymore. Students who struggle every day are going to feel demoralized and beaten down by schools but if we can help our students understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses I think we would have a lot more students willing to take risks for us.
Samantha
Throughout the article, “Diversity, Learning Styles, and Culture” Pat Burke Guild offered a lot of important insight on current challenges teachers and schools face when they do not keep diversity, learning styles and culture in mind. For example throughout the educational system, sometimes we are a little guilty of simplifying learning styles. If one student does not learn the content you’ve presented the way the rest of the class has, and begins to display behavioral problems, then that student is automatically labeled at a “problem child” simply due to the fact that their teacher is unable to differentiate instruction to fit the learning style or comprehension of that specific child.
Guild also offered some essential tips to teachers, one of them being to keep in mind student’s cultural backgrounds. Because everyone in an individual human being, everyone experiences life different, and has completely different outlooks on the environment around them. As a teacher, it is important to take these cultural backgrounds into account, especially for me when I am presenting social studies. I think that keeping culture in mind is important as a teacher because a simple disagreement could be solved with an understanding of where another person is coming from, specifically a student. Culture can also explain attitudes or behaviors that a teacher may not understand due to their own cultural bias.
This article served as a good reminder that every student a teacher encounters in their teaching career will most likely be different than any other student they have had, so it is important to treat and teach students as though they are individuals, and as though they are deserving of your highest quality teaching, providing them with an educational experience that they will never forget and use throughout their life.
Laura
This article brought to light an issue that I hadn’t previously considered in-depth: that as teachers, we acknowledge diversity but uniformity “still continues to dominate school practices” (Guild). Prior to reading Guild’s article, I had always assumed that the recognition of the fact that we will be teaching a classroom full of diverse learners with different cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, religious beliefs, multiple intelligences, disabilities, etc., meant that as teachers we would naturally cater to such diversity. However, Guild provides plenty of examples as to how this (unfortunately) is not often the case. Especially under the stress of standards-based education and performance-based assessment, teachers can easily fall victim to uniformity as a means to reach efficiency. However, in doing this, we are shortchanging our students, possibly without even realizing it. I realized that I am guilty of seeking superficial “solutions” when it comes to catering to the needs of diverse learners. As an example of such a fallacy, Guild notes that oftentimes teachers feel they are providing a “visual” learner with an effective teaching strategy by simply putting words on an overhead projector rather than giving instructions orally. While this might be an honest attempt at varying instruction for the visual learner, it technically doesn’t get at the heart of what works best for them. Guild reminds us that an “image, symbol, or visual representation” of the information would be far more effective. It may take a little extra thought and work, but it will be much more effective for our visual students. Thus, in order to be a teacher that is aware of and compliant to diversity in our students and their learning styles, it is crucial to look a little deeper and think outside of the box. Guild reminds us that consistency and depth are keys to ensuring that we are providing the best possible teaching and learning sequences for our students. Lastly, not only will this article make me more aware of the differences among my students, but it will also help me to make sure that I do not stereotype them based on the insight I gain to their unique situations and will rather make it my goal to learn as much as can about them as individuals as opposed to members of cultural groups. I will simply use my understanding of their culture and background to aid me in understanding them as individuals.
John
In the opening text of this article it talks about how too little has changed in the last 50 years. Recently I have finished student teaching and learned a lot about being in a school environment from an adult perspective. The biggest observation I have made is the fact that most teachers there are from another generation. Of that generation, it seemed like only 30% at most had adapted to change. I believe it is entirely possible that things haven’t changed much because a lot of people still in schools today teach the way they were taught. One teacher told me that she was only a few years from retirement so there was no way she was going to change anything. There are plenty of people of different generations that are willing to change but in some ways the system isn’t ready for that change. The article talks about diversity and how it’s easier to teach to sameness than it is for difference. In Maine, 97% of people are white. It could be that sameness that gets teachers to teach in one way to all the students. It is something as simple as seeing similar visuals that gets people to treat everyone the same. Basing things off appearance is a long tradition that human beings have. If some people can’t see right away that someone learns differently than they lump all in the same group. Fortunately, future teachers learn about this in school about how to find those diversity’s and differences. Differences and diversity was the biggest thing that I got out of this article because I see a problem with it in more than just a school setting. I believe it’s something that is so important and something that needs to be focused on in school. If it can start in the school than it can go much further than just in the classroom.
Jordan
After reading the article on diversity it really made me realize how every person learns and thinks is a very different way. Cultures, learning styles, beliefs, religions, disabilities, class, gender and geography make us all unique in our own way. The most important thing that I learned about myself with this article was the idea of teaching to different cultures and religions. Culture and religion can play a critical role in a student's learning style and way of critical thinking by having different beliefs. As a teacher I want to learn more about cultural beliefs before educating students that have them. It is important for a teacher to get to know all their students but religion can be a sensitive topic. I also would like to learn how to talk about culture with students. Respect within the classroom is important for teacher to student and student to student relationships. A deep understanding of the different cultural backgrounds enables teachers to educate students to a deeper level. Another thing this article mentioned about cultures within the classroom was that one of the worst things a teacher could do is ignore the subject. Being comfortable to handle any situation with a culture or religion is something that I need to become more educated with before teaching.
Alaina
After reading Diversity, Learning Style and Culture, I felt as though the connections between culture, diversity, and academic success were congruent to being a teacher who teaches to all learning types. In my opinion, after understanding the nuances of various cultures and learning types, as long as one uses the multiple intelligences regularly, students can be well represented and engage in the curriculum. In addition, culture aside, each student is an individual, therefore one should always teach towards their individual needs first, and then think of their culture second. This helps ready the stereotyping that so often occurs in schools.
There were three aspects that stuck out to me in the reading. The first piece being that when students struggle to learn the teacher attempts to make up the deficit rather than teach to their strength. With all learners I think teaching to their strength is important, as it allows them both greater success with the work and confidence in their learning. Another part of this article that I found intriguing was the idea that uniformity creates competition in schools rather than collaboration. I found this interesting because uniformity does not require much creativity, and therefore there is nothing to safeguard in terms of teaching. If anything, I think in schools where teachers are flexible and teach creatively there would be competition in terms of ideas. Lastly, the final aspect that stuck out to me in this reading was that kinesthetic learners have a hard time listening to directions. From my own experiences in the classroom I can understand the desire to just start doing things. After reading this article I gained some new thoughts on how to make my classroom more applicable to students who are kinesthetic and save them from the directions process.
Costa
This article was largely congruent with my current philosophy of education. I strongly believe in teaching to the individuals in a classroom, which requires knowing how your students learn best. The diverse learning styles of a class are already my priority, and it would only be natural to include my students’ cultural perspectives when considering what activities and assignments would be best at getting my students to reach understanding. I do recognize why uniformity is often pushed in schools, as we unfortunately can’t possibly actually create a single lesson that will meet one hundred percent of every child’s needs and also challenge each student, but that doesn’t mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater and only teach to a single type of student. We should be working to craft a variety of lesson plans that will activate different learning styles. Doing so will help students by both teaching to their strengths and appropriately challenging them. Teaching to students strengths specifically was an idea I really enjoyed in this article, as it’s always kind of surprised me that things that work could be discouraged just because they are different. For example, when learning guitar when I was younger, I constantly wanted to place my thumb on the side of the neck, but my teacher would always say that only Jimi Hendrix was allowed to hold a guitar like that. That perplexed me, as there was certainly a time when Hendrix was entirely unexceptional at guitar and yet he found a grip that worked for him and he is now arguably one of the greatest guitarists of all time. If Hendrix was never allowed to hold his guitar that way, who knows what success he would’ve achieved, and if we don’t teach to our students strengths or allow them to problem solve in their own way, who knows what success we will hinder.
Rhi
This article talk about how students are not only individuals with different styles of learning, but they also have different backgrounds and cultures. All of this impacts how each student learns and how they will perform within the classroom. Part of a teacher’s main responsibility in the classroom is to try and teach to every type of learner and engage them in a meaningful way. The goal is for all students to be successful learners and for each learner to have equal opportunities in the classroom. The teacher must be willing to teach to each individual learner and learning style to ensure that each student is reached. I think it is so easy to tell when a teacher is not hitting every student, but as we've learned in practicum, doing things like exit tickets or reflective essays can help a teach to understand where the students are at and where they might need extra guidance.
Something this article brought to my attention was about student files. If I had access to student files I would question whether or not I should look at them because, as the article discussed, I wouldn’t want to form the basis of what I expect each student to be as an individual and a learner, but a teacher also has to consider that this information could be useful in the sense that it is providing the educational history of each learner that could save a teacher a good amount of time when getting to know the students and deciphering each student’s learning style. I think I would want to look at IEP's but I think if a student does not have an IEP or one is not being put together, than I would probably just get to know the students on my own. It makes for a better teach-student relationship, or any relationship when one person doesn't know everything about the other.
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Synthesis
Diversity, learning styles, and culture are all issues that educators face when teaching. The hard part is planning a lesson that addresses learners from all different backgrounds like cultures, socioeconomic status, and religions. All students learn in different ways, even if they have the same culture or religion, therefore there is no definite way to plan. This is a challenging task, and this article brings up some interesting questions for teachers to think about when creating a lesson. These four questions include Cognition: How do I know? Conceptualization: How do I think? Affect: How do I decide? And Behavior: How do I act? These four questions allow for an explanation of the differences in which people think, feel, behave etc. As a teacher, it is important to keep in mind your own cultural biases, so make sure you are not projecting them onto your own students. A way to really help you understand your own culture, is to really discover different ways to teach to all different kinds of cultures. An Atlantic article covers a lot of information about a study conducted at the University of Arizona that has a lot of statistics on cultural differences. Some resources that may help new teachers confronting different aspects of culture within their own classroom(such as race, ses, gender, religion, etc.) can be found through the website teaching tolerance This website is a great resource because it focuses a lot on personal reflection/personal development, but also includes lesson ideas and resources for students regarding reflection and understanding of topics such as culture and all it entails.
Nicholas
This article makes an important point; when do you draw the line between pragmatic standardization and idealistic variation in teaching style? Lamentably, while the author acknowledges this difficulty it is never adequately addressed. The author vastly prefers to proselytize over the important part that culture plays in shaping the learning habits and abilities of students. However, despite the author’s assurance that culture is an essential component of the academic ability of every student, "Researchers have clearly established that there is no single or dual learning style for the members of any cultural, national, racial, or religious group" (Dunn, 1997, pp. 74- 75). The end result is that cultural considerations are rather useless from an instructor’s point of view, as they provide little to no insight into the best educational approach to utilize when teaching students of a particular cultural background. Essentially, educators are right back where they began, trapped between the assertions of theoreticians that varying instructional strategies will produce better educated students, and the practical impossibility of tailoring curriculum to the needs of 85+ students, whom they only see for one hour increments twice a week. In spite of the author’s fixation on culture, the message seems to be that teachers need to adjust their curriculum to the learning needs of their students, by incorporating a variety of educational practices into various lessons and using what works best as often as possible. The confusing part is that this practice does not necessitate a culturally specific approach. While culture plays a part in informing the values and abilities of various people, culture is not a monolith, and thus the people produced by certain cultures do differ, thus it would be more effective to teach each group of students with the strategies that best interest and educate them, rather than attempting to make accommodations for culture that may not work for the group of students that the teacher is trying to instruct.Miranda
There is an ever-impeding problem of trying to balance diversity and uniformity all at once in the classroom. For years and years teachers everywhere state how they are changing education and students are getting better and better, yet the mold for education has changed in over 50 years. If people have changed in the past 50 years, how come the education of teaching these people has not? Diversity if the big part of this, we are trying to fit every class and every kid into mold. Instead we should see what the kid thrives at best and teach them to that style. “Students who do not learn through whatever the current "best approach" happens to be are too often labeled "disabled" because their way of learning does not respond to that particular method”. (John Hopkins, Diversity) This is also happening with behaviors where kids may have “ADD” which is only because they are not allowed to use their hands which is their learning style in the classroom. Some of these sort of things can all be avoided with just learning what each child’s learning style is and teaching to that to help them achieve.
There are 4 different examples of learning styles as described in the john Hopkins article being, Cognition: How Do I Know? Conceptualization: How Do I Think? Affect: How Do I Decide? And Behavior: How Do I Act? These 4 categories explain the differences in ways that people can perceive, think, feel and behave. This along with multiple intelligences can ultimately create a classroom that can reach each student because you will be able to understand them. The most successful teachers are the ones that can bring in vary contexts, and cultures into a classroom to get students looking and working from all angles, with this they will become the student you never thought they could be.
Sarah
Finding a balance between diversity and uniformity is something that a lot of currents teachers are struggling with. Whether it be for the new teachers or for the more experienced ones, finding that balance to create a room of collaboration is very complex.
There are four main questions to consider while trying to find a way to balance different kinds of learning styles. These questions are how do I know, how do I think, how do I decide and how do I act? These questions each represent a different focus as to how different people handle different learning situations.With finding how to know something, the students are using cognition to break down something when they look at it. This is important overall in the classroom because students need to be able to explain why they know something. This can be different for each student depending on how they actually view the thing when they are learning about it. The process of viewing the thing is explained in how do I think, which is the question of conceptualization.Conceptualization is when a student will be presented with a situation and will have to decide how they think about it, whether it be breaking something down or even just forming an opinion. It is common that sometimes we cannot understand how someone came to the conclusion that they had and it follows in them viewing something in a different light than we possible were.How I decide can be summed up into affect. This is a moment in which students have a difference in intrinsic and extrinsic rewards as to whatever they are doing. Through the response to the work is decided in this moment, whether the student will be motivated or not.The last question being how do I act has to deal with the behavior of the student. Depending on how the student processes something, how they feel about something, if they even understand something at all will determine how they act in a situation such as being asked a specific question.These four questions, along with the idea of teaching culture stood out most because these are the questions that must be asked in the classroom to really determine how it will be run, how the students will react and how the environment will be viewed. Guild writes, "An appropriate balance must be determined thoughtfully with attention to beliefs, theories, and research rather than efficiency. We need to decide intentionally what should be uniform for all students and what should be diverse and strive toward putting into practice what we say we believe." By paying attention to each of the students needs, teachers are being held more accountable for their attentiveness in the classroom.
Mike
A common problem in today's education system is that educators continue to treat all learners alike and not takin in account for their family background, socioeconomic status and what the learners culture is. Schools are having trouble finding a balance between uniformity and diversity. What should be the same for each student and what should be diverse. It is important to look at the outcomes you want for the students, what experiences should every student have and which parts of the curriculum should be uniform. One last question brings everything together: "How can educators work towards a common mission while honoring diversity"(Guild 1). These questions are what should be going through ever educators head, we need to identify the differences in ever learner and use those differences to help that student succeed in the class and post schooling. "The emphasis on uniformity is a serious disadvantage for students whose culture has taught them behaviors and beliefs that are different from the norms of the majority culture most often emphasized in schools"(Guild 1). As a future teacher it is my job to look at the need for diversity in the classroom and don't shelter it off. We need to adjust our learning styles and structure to fit the needs of everyone's not just the norms of society. In order to pick the right learning styles, you need to look at cognition, conceptualization, affect and behavior. This will help us as educators really helps us understand culture and learning styles differences. In order to help students achieve inside and outside the classroom, we need to step up, find the best ways for students to learn, incorporate their cultures into the lessons and research how certain techniques or behaviors affects them. Tis will really help build a safe and structured environment where all students will be able to achieve success.Kate
One of major problems facing educators today, is the line between uniformity and diversity when instructing students. Something educators struggle with is not pushing students into the same mold, which has been a problem in the school system for decades. For many teachers, uniformity comes easier than diversity, but this does a disservice to almost all students, as uniformity doesn’t take into account the different beliefs, learning and thinking styles, or adversities that students might face. This can be shown in how many students who don’t learn and respond to the so called “best approach” of teachers, are often labeled as “disabled” when the reality is most them have different learning styles. However, we shouldn’t completely ignore uniformity, “We need appropriate uniform standards but not standardization.” (Guild, John Hopkins University). The main goal of us, as future educators, is to make sure that all learning styles are supported in our classroom, but that all students reach the same end goal.There are four questions to consider when teaching different learning styles according to this article are, how do I know? (which is associated with cognition), how do I think? (which is associated with conceptualization), how do I decide (which is associated with affect) and how do I act (which is associated with behavior). We must consider these questions because “people differ in the ways they perceive, think, feel, and behave.” (Guild, John Hopkins University). It’s important to learn about your student’s culture and their learning styles, and incorporate them into each of your lessons, so that each student can be successful in every aspect of the classroom.
Elizabeth
In the article "Diversity, Learning Style, and Culture," Pat Burke Guild explores all the different components that make up the unique lens through which each student in a classroom views their world.
This article provided a lot of information about different learning styles, cultural influences, and personal factors that influence how students perform academically. However, it doesn’t seem to offer many realistic solutions to this problem. I fully understand the value of really getting to know each of your students, but I’m just not sure that that’s practical. Say I teach four classes with 25 students each. Of those 100 students, let’s say 15 have an IEP. As their teacher, I must come to school with an engaging lesson plan that meets all the required standards plan that incorporates some aspect of each student’s learning style. Everyday, I have to make sure I’m providing accommodations for the students that need them, including students who aren’t identified as needing extra help. Teachers aren’t unaware that their students have diverse perspectives and needs—they’re simply doing the best they can with what they have, which often means resorting to methods that reach most of their students, not all of them. I think this article would have been a lot more useful if it had provided strategies for how teachers can meet the needs of diverse learners.
I started thinking about solutions. What if each student had a profile where they evaluated themselves? They would take personality and learning style tests, and answer questions like, “Do you like listening to lectures and taking notes?” or “Would you rather have the science behind a chemical reaction explained before or after you do an experiment about it?”. Their results would be changeable and they could take the tests multiple times throughout their high school career. Teachers would also be able to write comments about the student (e.g., “He gets nervous when speaking in front of the whole class, but does very well in small groups.”) There would also be a section where the teacher could see where her students overlap (e.g., “Your freshman English class has five naturalist learners.”). The teacher could use this information to create lessons that will engage her students before she even met them.
Riley
The big main point to this article talked about the idea that all students are different, and a big challenge that schools face is the balance between diversity and uniformity. Something that is agreed upon that should be uniform is the overall goals for students, but what needs to be diverse is how you accomplish those goals. For example, a goal for all students is for them to be able to read and to be able to read at a high level. On the other hand, because all students are different, they are going to learn to read at a high level at different paces and in different ways. As educators, it's our job to get to know our students so that we can help them learn in ways that are best for them.Anther point that Guild brought up in this article that I've never really thought about is that teachers are often times treated unfairly just as students are. Guild brought up the point that obviously teachers don't all teach in the same ways, which means they shouldn't be evaluated in the same ways. Nobody knows what the perfect way of teaching is, there's no magic formula, which means teachers need to be judged by the impact they have on their students and nothing else. An example brought up in the article is that certainly all teachers should be expected to plan for their lessons, but if they have different styles, they shouldn't be expected to plan in the same way.
In summary, all teachers and learners are different, we all have different styles and different approaches to how we work, and as long as we're all working towards the same goals, that's okay!
Marissa
Despite much discussion in teacher preparatory programs about diversity of students both culturally and in terms of learning styles, little has been done in schools to truly accommodate for those differences. This article points out that schools have been largely established and administrated by white men and thus schools tend to operate in ways that work well for students with similar cultures and learning styles and not so well for others. You probably wouldn't notice the problem if your learning style is well suited to ‘reflective, linear, or analytic’ thinking, but it leaves out a large portion of students who learn better through activity, discussion, and cooperation. I think one of the biggest problems we face is that so many teachers are people who were successful in this type of school environment and continue to follow that model in their own classrooms. Just by nature, other learning styles tend to underachieve and be unhappy in school making it incredibly unlikely that they would then go on to become a teacher.
The burden falls on us to go outside of our comfort zone and learn how to be better teachers for all learning styles. Once we understand these learning styles we must then incorporate instruction that accommodates those styles and cultures in our classroom on a day to day basis. Adding variety to the way we deliver instruction will not only help those who struggle with traditional school practices but it will also help students become more well rounded learners. While I think it’s true that we all learn best in different scenarios, I think it’s also true that we can all become better at learning in new ways. If every student was exposed to truly diverse educational experiences on a regular basis they would quickly become more adept at learning in ways that they may have struggled with previously. Giving students opportunities to be successful makes them more willing to try new things and struggling doesn’t seem as bad anymore. Students who struggle every day are going to feel demoralized and beaten down by schools but if we can help our students understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses I think we would have a lot more students willing to take risks for us.
Samantha
Throughout the article, “Diversity, Learning Styles, and Culture” Pat Burke Guild offered a lot of important insight on current challenges teachers and schools face when they do not keep diversity, learning styles and culture in mind. For example throughout the educational system, sometimes we are a little guilty of simplifying learning styles. If one student does not learn the content you’ve presented the way the rest of the class has, and begins to display behavioral problems, then that student is automatically labeled at a “problem child” simply due to the fact that their teacher is unable to differentiate instruction to fit the learning style or comprehension of that specific child.
Guild also offered some essential tips to teachers, one of them being to keep in mind student’s cultural backgrounds. Because everyone in an individual human being, everyone experiences life different, and has completely different outlooks on the environment around them. As a teacher, it is important to take these cultural backgrounds into account, especially for me when I am presenting social studies. I think that keeping culture in mind is important as a teacher because a simple disagreement could be solved with an understanding of where another person is coming from, specifically a student. Culture can also explain attitudes or behaviors that a teacher may not understand due to their own cultural bias.
This article served as a good reminder that every student a teacher encounters in their teaching career will most likely be different than any other student they have had, so it is important to treat and teach students as though they are individuals, and as though they are deserving of your highest quality teaching, providing them with an educational experience that they will never forget and use throughout their life.
Laura
This article brought to light an issue that I hadn’t previously considered in-depth: that as teachers, we acknowledge diversity but uniformity “still continues to dominate school practices” (Guild). Prior to reading Guild’s article, I had always assumed that the recognition of the fact that we will be teaching a classroom full of diverse learners with different cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, religious beliefs, multiple intelligences, disabilities, etc., meant that as teachers we would naturally cater to such diversity. However, Guild provides plenty of examples as to how this (unfortunately) is not often the case. Especially under the stress of standards-based education and performance-based assessment, teachers can easily fall victim to uniformity as a means to reach efficiency. However, in doing this, we are shortchanging our students, possibly without even realizing it. I realized that I am guilty of seeking superficial “solutions” when it comes to catering to the needs of diverse learners. As an example of such a fallacy, Guild notes that oftentimes teachers feel they are providing a “visual” learner with an effective teaching strategy by simply putting words on an overhead projector rather than giving instructions orally. While this might be an honest attempt at varying instruction for the visual learner, it technically doesn’t get at the heart of what works best for them. Guild reminds us that an “image, symbol, or visual representation” of the information would be far more effective. It may take a little extra thought and work, but it will be much more effective for our visual students. Thus, in order to be a teacher that is aware of and compliant to diversity in our students and their learning styles, it is crucial to look a little deeper and think outside of the box. Guild reminds us that consistency and depth are keys to ensuring that we are providing the best possible teaching and learning sequences for our students. Lastly, not only will this article make me more aware of the differences among my students, but it will also help me to make sure that I do not stereotype them based on the insight I gain to their unique situations and will rather make it my goal to learn as much as can about them as individuals as opposed to members of cultural groups. I will simply use my understanding of their culture and background to aid me in understanding them as individuals.John
In the opening text of this article it talks about how too little has changed in the last 50 years. Recently I have finished student teaching and learned a lot about being in a school environment from an adult perspective. The biggest observation I have made is the fact that most teachers there are from another generation. Of that generation, it seemed like only 30% at most had adapted to change. I believe it is entirely possible that things haven’t changed much because a lot of people still in schools today teach the way they were taught. One teacher told me that she was only a few years from retirement so there was no way she was going to change anything. There are plenty of people of different generations that are willing to change but in some ways the system isn’t ready for that change. The article talks about diversity and how it’s easier to teach to sameness than it is for difference. In Maine, 97% of people are white. It could be that sameness that gets teachers to teach in one way to all the students. It is something as simple as seeing similar visuals that gets people to treat everyone the same. Basing things off appearance is a long tradition that human beings have. If some people can’t see right away that someone learns differently than they lump all in the same group. Fortunately, future teachers learn about this in school about how to find those diversity’s and differences. Differences and diversity was the biggest thing that I got out of this article because I see a problem with it in more than just a school setting. I believe it’s something that is so important and something that needs to be focused on in school. If it can start in the school than it can go much further than just in the classroom.
Jordan
After reading the article on diversity it really made me realize how every person learns and thinks is a very different way. Cultures, learning styles, beliefs, religions, disabilities, class, gender and geography make us all unique in our own way. The most important thing that I learned about myself with this article was the idea of teaching to different cultures and religions. Culture and religion can play a critical role in a student's learning style and way of critical thinking by having different beliefs. As a teacher I want to learn more about cultural beliefs before educating students that have them. It is important for a teacher to get to know all their students but religion can be a sensitive topic. I also would like to learn how to talk about culture with students. Respect within the classroom is important for teacher to student and student to student relationships. A deep understanding of the different cultural backgrounds enables teachers to educate students to a deeper level. Another thing this article mentioned about cultures within the classroom was that one of the worst things a teacher could do is ignore the subject. Being comfortable to handle any situation with a culture or religion is something that I need to become more educated with before teaching.Alaina
After reading Diversity, Learning Style and Culture, I felt as though the connections between culture, diversity, and academic success were congruent to being a teacher who teaches to all learning types. In my opinion, after understanding the nuances of various cultures and learning types, as long as one uses the multiple intelligences regularly, students can be well represented and engage in the curriculum. In addition, culture aside, each student is an individual, therefore one should always teach towards their individual needs first, and then think of their culture second. This helps ready the stereotyping that so often occurs in schools.There were three aspects that stuck out to me in the reading. The first piece being that when students struggle to learn the teacher attempts to make up the deficit rather than teach to their strength. With all learners I think teaching to their strength is important, as it allows them both greater success with the work and confidence in their learning. Another part of this article that I found intriguing was the idea that uniformity creates competition in schools rather than collaboration. I found this interesting because uniformity does not require much creativity, and therefore there is nothing to safeguard in terms of teaching. If anything, I think in schools where teachers are flexible and teach creatively there would be competition in terms of ideas. Lastly, the final aspect that stuck out to me in this reading was that kinesthetic learners have a hard time listening to directions. From my own experiences in the classroom I can understand the desire to just start doing things. After reading this article I gained some new thoughts on how to make my classroom more applicable to students who are kinesthetic and save them from the directions process.
Costa
This article was largely congruent with my current philosophy of education. I strongly believe in teaching to the individuals in a classroom, which requires knowing how your students learn best. The diverse learning styles of a class are already my priority, and it would only be natural to include my students’ cultural perspectives when considering what activities and assignments would be best at getting my students to reach understanding. I do recognize why uniformity is often pushed in schools, as we unfortunately can’t possibly actually create a single lesson that will meet one hundred percent of every child’s needs and also challenge each student, but that doesn’t mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater and only teach to a single type of student. We should be working to craft a variety of lesson plans that will activate different learning styles. Doing so will help students by both teaching to their strengths and appropriately challenging them. Teaching to students strengths specifically was an idea I really enjoyed in this article, as it’s always kind of surprised me that things that work could be discouraged just because they are different. For example, when learning guitar when I was younger, I constantly wanted to place my thumb on the side of the neck, but my teacher would always say that only Jimi Hendrix was allowed to hold a guitar like that. That perplexed me, as there was certainly a time when Hendrix was entirely unexceptional at guitar and yet he found a grip that worked for him and he is now arguably one of the greatest guitarists of all time. If Hendrix was never allowed to hold his guitar that way, who knows what success he would’ve achieved, and if we don’t teach to our students strengths or allow them to problem solve in their own way, who knows what success we will hinder.
Rhi
This article talk about how students are not only individuals with different styles of learning, but they also have different backgrounds and cultures. All of this impacts how each student learns and how they will perform within the classroom. Part of a teacher’s main responsibility in the classroom is to try and teach to every type of learner and engage them in a meaningful way. The goal is for all students to be successful learners and for each learner to have equal opportunities in the classroom. The teacher must be willing to teach to each individual learner and learning style to ensure that each student is reached. I think it is so easy to tell when a teacher is not hitting every student, but as we've learned in practicum, doing things like exit tickets or reflective essays can help a teach to understand where the students are at and where they might need extra guidance.Something this article brought to my attention was about student files. If I had access to student files I would question whether or not I should look at them because, as the article discussed, I wouldn’t want to form the basis of what I expect each student to be as an individual and a learner, but a teacher also has to consider that this information could be useful in the sense that it is providing the educational history of each learner that could save a teacher a good amount of time when getting to know the students and deciphering each student’s learning style. I think I would want to look at IEP's but I think if a student does not have an IEP or one is not being put together, than I would probably just get to know the students on my own. It makes for a better teach-student relationship, or any relationship when one person doesn't know everything about the other.